Detroit Lions Strategy And Personnel 10-18-11

DETROIT, MI - OCTOBER 18: during a NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on October 16, 2011 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images)

(Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images)

PLAYER NOTES

–DE Kyle Vanden Bosch, who suffered a stinger in the fourth quarter, was back in the weight room early Monday morning. The stinger came when he tried to throw a block on the interception return of Amari Spievey. His helmet had come unstrapped during the play, but he made the block any way. Vanden Bosch had neck surgery last season, so stingers are a concern. “It’s all relative, but it’s not part of his previous issue with his neck surgery,” coach Jim Schwartz said.

–TE Tony Scheffler (concussion), on the advice of his doctors, was kept away from the team hotel Saturday night and from Ford Field Sunday. “Part of the symptoms are loud stadiums and lights,” coach Jim Schwartz said. “They thought they could get Tony settled down if he wasn’t in that environment.”

–P Ryan Donahue said he was supposed to punt the ball high and to the sideline, instead he hit it low and right down the middle of the field. San Francisco’s return ace Ted Ginn, Jr., brought it back 40 yards to set up the winning score. “It’s like everybody who plays golf, you always want to hit the fairway; sometimes you don’t,” Schwartz said. “We need to do a better job covering those. But the disappointment on that was there was a pretty significant block in the back (that wasn’t called) on the return. You talk about one play in a game — that might have been it. It would have significantly flipped the field.”

–WR Calvin Johnson became the fastest Lions player to catch 300 passes Sunday. He did it in 66 games, four quicker than Herman Moore.

–OLB DeAndre Levy, coming off a career-best 13 tackles against Chicago, had 12 tackles on Sunday.

REPORT CARD VS. 49ERS

PASSING OFFENSE
C – Credit goes to the speed and relentless pressure of the 49ers defense, but the Lions didn’t do much right. The protection was spotty. Receivers not named Calvin Johnson couldn’t get separation against man coverage. And for the first time this season, QB Matthew Stafford had happy feet. He was under pressure a lot – five sacks, 10 hits — but he was also feeling pressure and bailing out at times when there was none.

RUSHING OFFENSE
D – Coming off their best effort of the season, this was their worst. Just 66 yards total rushing. RB Jahvid Best had 37 yards in 12 carries. Breakdowns seem to be coming from different spots on different plays.

PASS DEFENSE
B — They didn’t give up any big plays and forced two turnovers (interception and a sack-fumble). They had two sacks and six hits on QB Alex Smith. What has to gall the Lions, though, of Smith’s 17 completions, seven were for first downs.

RUSH DEFENSE
C — The 49ers ran the same play – called a wham play – twice. RB Frank Gore took one for 55 yards and another for 47. Each time it appeared OLB Bobby Carpenter missed his gap. Gore wound up with 141 of the 49ers’ 203 rushing yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS
D — The coverage units continue to struggle. Ted Ginn Jr. averaged 24 yards on punt returns and 26.3 on kickoff returns. P Ryan Donahue managed a net of just 32.3 yards on eight punts. On the other side, the Lions started three drives inside their 10 thanks to the punting of Andy Lee.

COACHING
C – Nothing offensive coordinator Scott Linehan did seemed to deceive the 49ers. Every trick he tried to disguise the short passing game went for naught. Conversely, and this is more on Stafford than the coaches, but they never could break the code on the 49ers’ coverage disguises. Often, Stafford was seeing double coverage where there was just single.